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Space Plane: Mysterious US military aircraft launches
- chrisseaton 6y agoDid this mission not transfer to the new Space Force? If not, what kind of things are they doing?
- shockinglytrue 6y agoGiven the frequency and consistency of narrative with which it appears in the press, at this stage I'm convinced it's an empty UAV used entirely for some marketing purpose
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- mhh__ 6y agoIt's spending months in space, I don't think it's for marketing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j56s46e97Lo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j56s46e97Lo Based on what this talk indicates, the US Government is doing some questionable(...) things in terms of signals intelligence in space. We probably won't know what X37-B is doing in space for years but I imagine they will have at least tried to do some big brother exercises. The US/Western Intelligence community effectively treats all communications as fair game - they always have (e.g. MI5 were capturing encryption keys from neutral embassies using microphones in the ~50/60s) they just possess the means to do it efficiently at large scale now. I imagine a large part of its mission is also just testing military equipment that can't go on the ISS but that's not as sexy.
- azernik 6y agoThey're doing some questionable sigint things I'm sure, but you don't need reentry and reusability for that. The most likely use-case is for testing components to use in conventional satellites.
- greedo 6y agoYears in space, not months.
- chiph 6y agoIt's a resupply mission for Hugo Drax and Drax Industries. /s https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Drax https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Drax
- azernik 6y agoMost likely is for component testing - would explain the secrecy, the low flight rate, and the long (2 years or so) mission duration. EDIT: And, in fact, the one publicly-released payload I'm finding was a test of a new heat pipe.
- NortySpock 6y agoIt did transfer to the Space Force. The mission number is USSF-7, not USAF-7. https://www.ulalaunch.com/about/news/2020/05/17/united-launch-alliance-successfully-launches-the-sixth-orbital-test-vehicle-for-the-u.s.-space-force https://www.ulalaunch.com/about/news/2020/05/17/united-launc...
- icegreentea2 6y agoIt is transferred to the space force - the launch name is USSF-7 (https://www.ulalaunch.com/missions/atlas-v-ussf-7 https://www.ulalaunch.com/missions/atlas-v-ussf-7). The Space Force operates out of the Department of the Air Force (like how the Marine Corp operates out of the Department of the Navy), so it's it's civilian head is still the Secretary of the Air Force - it's military head is the Chief of Space Operations.
- Rebelgecko 6y agoThe Space Force is now responsible for all DOD launches. However I believe that the payload itself still belongs to the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office. Most of the people operating it may be "on loan" to the Space Force, but aren't actually members yet (I think there's only ~100 people so far in the Space Force)
- DuskStar 6y ago> I think there's only ~100 people so far in the Space Force It has to be more than that, now - I'm pretty sure more than a hundred just went straight there after graduating from USAFA a few weeks back
- Rebelgecko 6y agoAccording to the Wiki article, there's 88 people in the Space Force and 86 of them are 2nd lieutenants
- DuskStar 6y agoWell that's an interesting rank structure. (I'm sure it'll change soon though)
- Rebelgecko 6y agoYeah, I'd hate to be the one enlisted guy (he actually did an AMA on reddit a few days ago)
- shockinglytrue 6y agoThe press around the X-37B continues to perplex, it's particularly disappointing to see this "super secret but let's talk about it constantly" article using the word "very" 3 times. I think it was drilled into me by the age of 12 to avoid "very" in written English in order not to obviously oversell, and yet here it is from a professional writer working for the BBC
- jrockway 6y agoNewspapers tend to write for a very low reading level. Flourish is nice for readers of a long novel (for whom the words are as important as the story itself), but the goal here is for as many people to understand the content as possible. That includes people that don't natively speak English, children, etc.
- chrisseaton 6y agoIn general the BBC prioritises simple writing, a reasonably low reading level, and common words to make it as accessible as possible. They don't pay much attention to ideas of artistic writing and they aren't looking to use a different adverb or adjective every time for the whimsical sake of it. It's a public news service, not a mid-atlantic magazine.
- ethbro 6y agoThe best news choice I made, as an American, was to get my primary news through foreign outlets. Because generally, they don't really care enough to implement systemic bias about another country.
- pengaru 6y ago"power-beaming technology"
- mhh__ 6y agoSarcasm? Even uBeam does work, it's just not very efficient
- pengaru 6y agoI have no doubts beamed-power is possible, I just assume it's effectively an energy weapon and the real magic is at the receiving end harnessing the power without getting destroyed. But if you aim it somewhere other than the receiver, it's a weapon, no?
- mhh__ 6y agoI'm not convinced. I forgot the exact numbers but when I was trying to look at studies 5G alarmists cite* with an open mind some Energy Densities in question (being applied to animal subjects) were stronger than standing in front of one of those enormous ballistic missile tracking phased arrays (Which given the subject of this thread are also used for tracking satellites) * My absolute favourite one was "Sleeping next to a mobile phone is correlated with lack of sleep" hmmm I wonder why
- pengaru 6y ago> I'm not convinced. I forgot the exact numbers but when I was trying to look at studies 5G alarmists cite* with an open mind some Energy Densities in question (being applied to animal subjects) were stronger than standing in front of one of those enormous ballistic missile tracking phased arrays (Which given the subject of this thread are also used for tracking satellites) Thank you for implicitly putting me in the company of 5G alarmists. We're not talking about 5G here.
- mhh__ 6y agoIt's an extremely inefficient weapon, is my point. Sending energy from orbit to earth sufficiently strong to kill someone would need something like thousands of gigawatts as a point source I think
- HenryKissinger 6y ago> Mysterious US military aircraft launches > Mysterious US military aircraft Journalists need to stop using adjectives like "mysterious" when writing about the X-37B. While the aircraft's technology and missions are classified, there is nothing mysterious about the existence of the plane itself.
- pengaru 6y ago> Journalists need to stop using adjectives like "mysterious" when writing about the X-37B. Considering there isn't even a journalist attributed on the article, I'm not sure we should be presuming any were even involved in its publication.
- lonelappde 6y agoBBC doesn't put bylines on articles that are merely reporting general information cobbled together from press releases and public activity. https://www.bbc.com/news/help-41670342 https://www.bbc.com/news/help-41670342 That does leave a hole when articles include opinion content mixed in with general facts.
- monocasa 6y agoEven as far as classified launches go, it's pretty mysterious. Like one of the other more recent launches was Intruder 8, a pair of satellites used by Naval signals intelligence to detect ships using time of arrival from radio transmissions. Compared to that, what's the new mission of the X-37B? I'd say it's pretty mysterious.
- b34r 6y agoGood thing this was built years ago, probably won’t glitch out like Boeing’s other products.
- MisterBiggs 6y agoMore so that Boeing is lucky it's classified or else all the blunders would be public.
- lifeisstillgood 6y agoSat here in lockdown, I have just rewatched Matt Damon's The Martian and yes, we want to go up and out. I am so glad someone is still trying. I am also blown away by the American Federal budget - this is a classified military space program. How much does one of those cost ?!
- zrail 6y agoThe budget is classified. One can assume $texas levels of money.
- azernik 6y agoNot sure, but I would imagine it's less than you'd think. The spaceplane was originally a NASA project that DoD picked up after most development was done, and it launches from commercial rockets (eg they've used SpaceX rockets to launch these before). I would assume that the payload (experimental sensors and components, most likely) are more expensive than the amortized-per-mission cost of the vehicle.
- NortySpock 6y agoWell, the budget of NASA is $22.6B/year for all projects combined. And as others have said, this is a small unmanned reusable vehicle, with a few flights under it's belt, after all of the reusable R&D was done for the Space Shuttle. If I were to lick my finger and lift it into the wind, I'd estimate this flight cost between $0.5B and $1.5B, and most of that would be the gear that they are testing, given that the spacecraft itself is fully reusable.
- denlekke 6y agothis is part of the Air Force budget (~$165.6 billion)
- astronautjones 6y agoironically, the post below this about unemployment fraud with "potential losses in the hundreds of millions of dollars, according to a new alert issued by the U.S. Secret Service." is full of people who don't really understand the scale you're working with with federal money
- awinder 6y agoOne day after https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1261747580666552320 https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/12617475806665523... can’t be a coincidence right
- jacobush 6y agoSomeone hacked my computer - it looks like the president of the United States of America is posting some kind of ironic meme video about himself on Twitter.
- mavhc 6y agoSomeone hacked reality
- mschuster91 6y agoNot the first time he did this (https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1225174713992990721?s=19 https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/12251747139929907...). It's ... awkward to watch this as an European.
- jacobush 6y agoI wrote a half satire thing about how the Trump became on office, ostensibly voted to by congress, but somehow they always vote a Trump descendant into office. For life.
- azernik 6y agoProbably is a coincidence - these launches are planned and contracted far in advance, and Trump didn't seem to care last time one was launched during his administration.
- henrikschroder 6y agoMaybe this is a super duper space plane?
- 6y ago
- inamberclad 6y agoThis is the least secretive X-37 mission yet. We know a fair amount about the payloads onboard.
- dgudkov 6y agoOr, this information can be thrown in intentionally to divert attention from the real mission. Make it plain and boring so that people quickly lose interest and switch to next topic in the newsfeed.
- russli1993 6y agoall the money on military, and not in investing in healthcare, improve public health responses, increasing financial reward for the front line workers that are sacrificing themselves for the greater society. In my opinion, this is sad. I would rather have this money being written as a check to every nurses and doctors served in COVID19.
- waheoo 6y agoI dont disagree that we spend too much on defense but the idea that we should stop all spending on science to help out some nurses is super strange. Its akin to saying we should stop funding nasa be ause who needs space travel. Also please stop glorifying a set profession as some kind of ulturistic calling. Theyre in it for the money and prestige, and frankly, wouldnt be there otherwise. If you want to thank someone, thank the delivery guy, the supermarket clerks, the flight attendants, or the casual staff out of the job right now. These people are feeling the brunt of this. These people are the front line.
- samstave 6y agoThe "science" of Hegemony and Control and Power?
- wrboyce 6y agoMany of my in-laws are medical professionals: GPs, surgeons, physicians, anaesthetists, nurses, the list goes on. Not a single one of them has done it for financial gain or prestige, and for the most part the driving force really does seem to be a genuine desire to help people. (I’m based in the UK, going into medicine for money or prestige would be a fool’s errand.) Please don’t make assumptions about things with which you are clearly unfamiliar, and if you must do so please do not assert them as facts.
- grecy 6y agoI genuinely believe that if Americans knew what the rest of the Developed world gets for it's tax dollars vs. what Americans have to put up with for their tax dollars, they would riot in the streets. There's a very good reason the major news outlets in America never directly compare America to other Developed countries, and only ever compare it to undeveloped or "evil" countries (China, Sudan, Iran, Russia).
- anigbrowl 6y agoHere are some additional clues on the mission: https://thehill.com/opinion/technology/498210-how-the-latest-x-37b-mission-may-change-the-world https://thehill.com/opinion/technology/498210-how-the-latest...
- ChuckMcM 6y agoI find it amusing that I now consider it so wasteful to throw away all that rocket gear just to launch a payload :-). I also wonder if they still have the "crew return" insert for the ship. Early in its life it was envisioned as a way to bring the full crew of the ISS to earth.
- Zenst 6y ago"One of the experiments will test the effect of radiation on seeds and other materials." Are seeds the baseline in testing biological effects in space? Asking as I would of thought that testing seeds in space had been one of the most tested avenues and with that, a known consistent form of biological matter that can be compared with. Certainly if you wanted to test a space shield, you could test with something that can contain a few seeds and see how the results compare. Though as one of the tests is for energy transmission, then seeing if such equipment increases biological impact in proximity is worth knowing for future plans. Seeds certainly robust enough and can crudly test them by growing them as well, so I can see many reasons for them on many missions.
- walterbell 6y agoMore on the "power-beaming technology", https://www.livescience.com/microwave-beam-military-space-plane.html https://www.livescience.com/microwave-beam-military-space-pl... > ... test the idea of using microwave beams to send solar power to Earth from space ... Build a big solar array in orbit, the idea goes, and it could collect enough sunlight (unfiltered by atmospheric effects or clouds,) to generate a powerful beam of microwaves. A collection station on Earth would then convert that beam into useful power ... down the road he said he hopes it will lead to a futuristic clean power source that could benefit everyone — and give the U.S. a new near-monopoly over a global energy supply.
- dokument 6y agoDidnt' China try to do this a few years back but was shutdown for some reason? Also, this would double as a great military weapon so I am sure that is being assessed as well.
- dx87 6y agoThat brings back some nostalgia. I remember playing one of the early Sim City games and that was one of the types of power plants you could set up. It had a small chance to malfunction, causing the beam to miss the collection station and set everything in the surrounding area on fire.
- tabs_masterrace 6y agoThe Navy has also demonstrated laser based transmission of energy recently: https://www.nrl.navy.mil/news/releases/researchers-transmit-energy-laser-power-beaming-demonstration https://www.nrl.navy.mil/news/releases/researchers-transmit-... They are talking about beaming power to drones, but thinking a bit larger, I wonder if it be feasible to have a high power laser transmit energy to a satellite and then have a cluster ala Starlink act as an relay to direct the power potentially anywhere on earth. Maybe you could power airplanes from space? Sounds like Sci-Fi, but apparently all the components and technologies exist, and people must have been working on it for a while, when they just letting the public in on it.
- koheripbal 6y agoWouldn't a tech like this be more likely to be used as an ABM tech than something for power transmission? Maybe Ronald Regan's Star Wars program is finally getting implemented.
- littleweep 6y agoIsn't X-37B the name of Elon's other child?
- NiceWayToDoIT 6y agoIs it possible to use the same "power-beaming technology" as a directed-energy weapon ?
- hyperpallium 6y agoA mew Kzinti lesson? "a power beam's efficiency as a weapon is in direct proportion to its efficiency as a power beam."
- JKCalhoun 6y agoWife and I stopped in at Edwards AFB perhaps around 2000? Maybe 1998 or so.... Have to dig up the photos to be sure. The armed guard let us on the base so we could head to Dryden Flight Research Center (now the Armstrong Flight Research Center). In those days I figured you just tried to do a thing until someone said you couldn't. It didn't occur to me that there would be a problem driving in to Dryden. The guard asked a lot of questions, but, pre 9-11, we had no problem getting in. Dryden has a small museum, a few hangars. One hangars has the original M2-F1 lifting body. I distinctly remember this space plane (or it's predecessor?) being towed down a small road near Dryden. I guessed it was some sort of X-plane. We were on a sort of mini-tour at that point, being shown around, and I believe there was an attempt by the tour-guide to distract us from that plane.
- walkingolof 6y agoWonder if you saw the x-34 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbital_Sciences_X-34 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbital_Sciences_X-34
- JKCalhoun 6y agoYes, you may be correct.
- jacquesm 6y agoInteresting that they'd allow you to make photographs while they were towing classified hardware around.
- lihaciudaniel 6y agoI thought this would be about the declassified UFO
- ncmncm 6y agoThat they send it up for years at a stretch mostly indicates that they have not discovered any good uses for it yet. If it were in demand, they would need it back before two years have passed. Keeping it parked in a hangar when it's not needed would get embarrassing. Leaving it in orbit makes it seem to be doing something, particularly if you pretend it's all hush-hush.